Methods for Displaying Both Hierarchical and Non-Hierarchical Data Using Tree Diagram Graphical User Interfaces Having Secondary Expansion Capabilities

ABSTRACT

Methods for displaying a set of hierarchical data and a set of non-hierarchical data on an electronic display comprise displaying at least part of the set of hierarchical data in a tree diagram that has a plurality of levels with one or more nodes present at each level, and displaying the set of non-hierarchical data in a plurality of auxiliary nodes that are provided in between levels of the tree diagram. Expansion handles may also be displayed adjacent nodes in the tree diagram. These expansion handles may be configured to expand or collapse the tree diagram at the node they are adjacent to. The expansion handles may optionally be configured to display or hide selected of the auxiliary nodes.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority as a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/736,197, filed Dec. 15, 2003, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to displaying hierarchical dataon an electronic display or other display device. More particularly, thepresent invention relates to controlling the display of hierarchicaldata that is displayed on “tree diagram” graphical user interfaces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A wide variety of computer operating systems and computer applicationprograms incorporate, display and/or perform operations on data orinformation that is hierarchical in nature. For example, most computeroperating systems provide users access to a hierarchy of directoriesand/or sub-directories where documents, programs and/or otherinformation are stored. Many computer e-mail systems likewise provide ahierarchy of files and/or sub-files in which e-mail messages may bestored. Organizer applications typically allow a user to establish tasklistings and/or store other forms of data which, once again, may behierarchical in nature. The number and variety of computer systems andprograms that store and/or manipulate hierarchical data sets continuesto increase as computer processing applications proliferate.

With the advent and expanded use of graphical user interfaces over thelast two decades, it has become possible to display all or part ofhierarchical data sets to the user of a computer via a “tree diagram”representation. Tree diagrams are particularly useful in displayinghierarchical data as the levels of the tree diagram visually depict thelocation of each piece of data in a way that quickly and intuitivelyconveys to the user both the location of the data within the hierarchyand the relationship of that data to other data in the hierarchy.Additionally, the hierarchical structure of a tree diagram may allow theuser to more quickly and efficiently peruse the data, such as byreviewing the entries at the higher levels to locate particular brancheswhich are most likely to contain the information of interest. A useralso typically can “expand” or “collapse” the tree diagram at variouspoints (i.e., displaying or hiding information in the higher levels ofthe tree) to further facilitate viewing the hierarchical data. Bothcustom programs and tree diagram objects are known in the prior art forproviding a tree diagram graphical user interface to a user. Forexample, FIG. 1 is a screen capture of a prior art application(Microsoft Corporation's Windows Explorer) that includes a display areacontaining hierarchical data displayed using a tree diagram graphicaluser interface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide for displaying a set ofhierarchical data and a set of non-hierarchical data on an electronicdisplay. At least part of the set of hierarchical data is displayed in atree diagram that has a plurality of levels with one or more nodespresent at each level. The set of non-hierarchical data may be displayedin a plurality of auxiliary nodes that are provided in between at leastsome of the levels of the tree diagram. An expansion handle may also bedisplayed adjacent one or more nodes in the tree diagram. Theseexpansion handles may be configured to expand or collapse the treediagram at the node they are adjacent to. The expansion handles mayoptionally be configured to also display or hide selected of theauxiliary nodes.

In embodiments of the present invention, pointing to one of theexpansion handles with a pointing device while simultaneouslydouble-clicking a control button on the pointing device operates todisplay or hide selected of the auxiliary nodes. In other embodiments ofthe present invention, pointing to one of the expansion handles with thepointing device while pressing a first button on the pointing devicewill operate to expand or collapse the tree diagram at the node theexpansion handle is adjacent to, whereas pointing to the expansionhandle while pressing a second button on the pointing device operates todisplay or hide selected of the auxiliary nodes. In still otherembodiments of the present invention, secondary expansion handles may bedisplayed adjacent one or more of the nodes in the tree diagram. Thesesecondary expansion handles may be used to show or hide selected of theauxiliary nodes.

Further embodiments of the present invention provide for displaying aset of hierarchical data and a set of non-hierarchical data in acomposite diagram. This may be accomplished by displaying part of theset of hierarchical data in a first group of nodes that are arranged ina series of levels to form a tree diagram. The tree diagram may beexpanded at a selected one of the nodes to display additional data inthe set of hierarchical data in a second group of nodes. The selectedone of the nodes may itself be expanded to display a plurality ofauxiliary nodes that contain a portion of the set of non-hierarchicaldata. An expansion handle that is adjacent to the selected one of thenodes may be toggled to initiate the expansion of the tree diagram. Inembodiments of the invention, the expansion handle may also be used toinitiate the display of the plurality of auxiliary nodes. In otherembodiments of the invention, a second expansion handle located adjacentthe expansion handle may be toggled to initiate the display of theauxiliary nodes.

Still other embodiments of the invention provide a graphical userinterface for displaying a set of hierarchical data and a set ofnon-hierarchical data. The graphical user interface may include a groupof nodes that are arranged in a plurality of levels to form a treediagram. The nodes in the group of nodes display at least a portion ofthe set of hierarchical data. The graphical user interface may furtherinclude a group of auxiliary nodes that display at least a portion ofthe set of non-hierarchical data. The group of auxiliary nodes may bearranged in one or more auxiliary levels that are positioned betweenadjacent levels of the tree diagram. One or more of the nodes in thegroup of nodes may have an associated expansion handle that isconfigured to expand or contract the tree diagram at that node and/or todisplay or hide selected of the auxiliary nodes.

As will further be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the variousembodiments of the present invention may be embodied as methods,apparatus, systems, graphical user interfaces and/or computer programproducts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a screen capture of a conventional software program thatprovides a tree diagram graphical user interface.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a data processing system suitable for usein some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a more detailed block diagram of aspects of a data processingsystem that may be used in some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 depicts a display device on which a tree diagram is displayed.

FIG. 5A depicts a display device on which a tree diagram graphical userinterface according to the embodiments of the present invention isdisplayed.

FIG. 5B depicts the display device on which a tree diagram graphicaluser interface according to further embodiments of the present inventionis displayed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting operations according to some embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart depicting operations according to furtherembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which illustrativeembodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limitedto the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and willfully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the present inventionmay be embodied as a method, data processing system, graphical userinterface or computer program product. Accordingly, the presentinvention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, anentirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software andhardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a “circuit” or“module.” Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product on a computer-usable storage medium havingcomputer-usable program code embodied in the medium. Any suitablecomputer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs,optical storage devices, a transmission media such as those supportingthe Internet or an intranet, or magnetic storage devices.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentinvention may be written in an object oriented programming language suchas Java®, Smalltalk or C++. However, the computer program code forcarrying out operations of the present invention may also be written inconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer. In the latter scenario, theremote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a localarea network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection maybe made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet usingan Internet Service Provider).

The present invention is described in part below with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that blocks of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmaimer, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. It should also benoted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted inthe blocks may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example,two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved.

Embodiments of the present invention provide for displaying bothhierarchical data and non-hierarchical data on an electronic display.Many current computer applications require the manipulation and/ordisplay of hierarchical data sets. To facilitate manipulation andnavigation of such data sets, the hierarchical data is often displayedto the user in tree diagram format. Conventional tree diagrams, however,by their nature, only present data in a hierarchical format. As such,conventional tree diagrams may not be a good vehicle for displayingmixed data sets that include both hierarchical and non-hierarchicaldata.

By way of example, a set of hierarchical data may also includenon-hierarchical data such as different versions, clones and/orduplicates of the hierarchical data. Herein, a “duplicate” refers to anitem in a data set that is an exact replica of another item in the dataset, whereas a “clone” refers to an item in the data set that startedout as a duplicate, but subsequently was modified so that it is nolonger an exact replica of the other item in the data set. A “version”refers to an item in the data set that is part of a related series ofsimilar items that differ in some respects. Examples of items that havedifferent “versions” are documents that have been updated (e.g. edited)one or more times or different releases of a software program.

As noted above, conventional tree diagrams typically are not designed todisplay non-hierarchical data such as duplicates, clones and/or versionsof items that are associated with items in a hierarchical data set.Typically, these items of non-hierarchical data are depicted as“siblings” of the items in the hierarchical data set that they areassociated with. Thus, for example, a duplicate of the item of datadisplayed at node X in the tree diagram would be depicted in a secondnode at the same level in the tree diagram as node X. Such a depiction,however, does not provide a graphical indication of the true underlyingrelationship between the duplicate and the other data in the treediagram.

Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described withreference to the figures. FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment ofa data processing system 100 suitable for use in implementingembodiments of the present invention. The data processing system 100 mayinclude input device(s) 110 such as a keyboard, pointer, mouse and/orkeypad, a display 120, and a memory 130 that communicates with aprocessor 140. The data processing system 100 may further include aspeaker 150, and I/O data port(s) 160 that also communicate with theprocessor 140. The I/O data ports 160 can be used to transferinformation between the data processing system 100 and another computersystem or a network. These components may be conventional components,such as those used in many conventional data processing systems, whichmay be configured to operate as described herein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of data processing systems that illustratessystems, methods, and computer program products in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. The processor 140 communicateswith the memory 130 via an address/data bus 170. The processor 140 canbe any commercially available or custom microprocessor. The memory 130is representative of the overall hierarchy of memory devices, and maycontain the software and data used to implement the functionality of thedata processing system 100. The memory 130 can include, but is notlimited to, the following types of devices: cache, ROM, PROM, EPROM,EEPROM, flash memory, SRAM, and DRAM.

As shown in FIG. 3, the memory 130 may include several categories ofsoftware and data used in the data processing system 100: the operatingsystem 132; the application programs 134; the input/output (I/O) devicedrivers 136; and the data 138, which may include at least onehierarchical data set 137 and at least one set of non-hierarchical data139 that is associated with the hierarchical data set 137. As will beappreciated by those of skill in the art, the operating system 132 maybe any operating system suitable for use with a data processing system,such as OS/2, AIX or System390 from International Business MachinesCorporation, Armonk, N.Y., Windows95, Windows98, Windows2000 orWindowsXP from Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash., Unix or Linux. TheI/O device drivers 136 typically include software routines accessedthrough the operating system 132 by the application programs 134 tocommunicate with devices such as the I/O data port(s) 160 and certainmemory 130 components. The application programs 134 are illustrative ofthe programs that implement the various features of the data processingsystem 100 and preferably include at least one application that supportsoperations according to embodiments of the present invention. Finally,the data 138 represents the static and dynamic data used by theapplication programs 134, the operating system 132, the I/O devicedrivers 136, and other software programs that may reside in the memory130.

As is further seen in FIG. 3, the application programs 134 may include atree diagram module 180. The tree diagram module 180 may carry out theoperations described herein for displaying both hierarchical data andnon-hierarchical data in a tree diagram. While the present invention isillustrated, for example, with reference to the tree diagram module 180being an application program in FIG. 3, as will be appreciated by thoseof skill in the art, other configurations may also be utilized whilestill benefiting from the teachings of the present invention. Forexample, the tree diagram module 180 may also be incorporated into theoperating system 132, the I/O device drivers 138 or other such logicaldivision of the data processing system 100. Thus, the present inventionshould not be construed as limited to the configuration of FIG. 3, butis intended to encompass any configuration capable of carrying out theoperations described herein.

As will be understood by those of skill in the art, a tree diagramrefers to a display of data in which the data is arranged in a series oflevels. FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary tree diagram 200 in which the datadisplayed in the tree diagram 200 is arranged in a series of levels 210,220, 230, 240, 250, 260, which are physically offset from each otheralong the horizontal axis. The entries 211, 221-222, 231-233, 241-243,251-255, 261-262 that comprise each level 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260are referred to herein as “nodes” of the tree diagram 200. Each suchnode typically contains data from the set of hierarchical data, such asfor example, the data “Network 1” that is displayed at node 221. Thenodes 211, 221-222, 231-233, 241-243, 251-255, 261-262 are arranged inthe tree diagram 200 to graphically display their hierarchicalrelationship with other nodes in the tree diagram 200. The nodes mayalso include other information, such as, for example, icons such as the“folder” icons depicted in the conventional tree diagram of FIG. 1.

In the tree diagram 200 of FIG. 4, level 210 is the lowest level of thetree diagram, and level 260 is the highest level. Conventionally, thelowest level is referred to as the “root” of the tree diagram or the“root level.” The root level of a tree diagram typically, but notnecessarily, includes only a single node. In FIG. 4, the root node (node211) is positioned on the left-most side of the tree diagram 200,although other orientations may be used. As shown in FIG. 4, the nodesin the higher levels 220, 230, 240, 250, 260 branch out (either directlyor indirectly) from the node 211 at root level 210, which is why thesediagrams are referred to as “tree” diagrams. As is also shown in FIG. 4,the tree diagram may include horizontal and/or vertical “connectors,”such as horizontal connector 245 and vertical connector 246 that helphighlight the particular level in which each node falls and theparticular nodes that branch out from other nodes. While theseconnectors are implemented as dotted lines in the example of FIG. 4, itwill be appreciated that a wide variety of different connectors may beused to highlight these relationships.

A node or group of nodes that branch out from a node at a lower level ofthe tree diagram are referred to as “child” or “children” nodes. Thenode from which the child/children node branch out of is referred to asthe “parent” node. For example, in FIG. 4 node 232 would be the parentof nodes 241, 242 and 243 and nodes 241, 242 and 243 would be thechildren of node 232. Similarly, the nodes that branch out, eitherdirectly or indirectly, from a node X at a lower level are collectivelyreferred to as the “descendant” nodes of node X. By way of example, inFIG. 4 nodes 241, 242, 243, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 261 and 262 are thedescendants of node 232. Likewise, a first node is referred to as an“ancestor” node of a second node if the second node branches out, eitherdirectly or indirectly, from the first node. Thus, for example, in FIG.4 nodes 211, 221, and 232 would all be ancestor nodes of node 243.

Conventional tree diagram graphical user interfaces also typicallyprovide capabilities to “collapse” or “expand” nodes in the tree diagramto vary the amount of information from the hierarchical data set that isactually displayed on the electronic display. Typically, the collapseand expand functions are implemented via an “expansion handle.” Herein,the term “expansion handle” is used to refer to any indicia displayed onthe electronic display that a user may select to cause a node in thetree diagram to be expanded or collapsed.

In embodiments of the present invention, the tree diagrams may includeexpansion handles that are implemented using conventional box icons suchas the box icons 205 (the box icons each have a “+” sign or a “−” signwithin the box) depicted in the tree diagram of FIG. 4 (note that tosimplify the drawing only a few of the box icons include the label 205).These box icons 205 may be selected by a user to cause the tree diagramgraphical user interface to expand or collapse the tree diagram at thenode that the box icon 205 is associated with. By way of example, in thetree diagram of FIG. 4, a user may use a pointing device such as a mouseor a stylus to select one of the box icons labeled 205. If a mouse isused as the pointing device, this may be accomplished, for example, byusing the mouse to move an arrow on the electronic display screen overthe box icon 205 and then single clicking the left button on the mouse.The selection of the box icon 205 causes the node to toggle between itsexpanded and collapsed states.

A node is considered to be “collapsed” when all the descendants of thatnode are hidden. In the exemplary tree diagram of FIG. 4, a “+” signappears in the box icon 205 of a collapsed node (see, e.g., node 231).By selecting the box icon 205 with the “+” sign a user may initiate theexpand function such that the tree diagram displays the children of thenode at issue. Once the node has been expanded so that at least all thenodes in the next highest level are displayed, the “+” is replaced by a“−” in the box icon 205. Likewise, a “−” sign appears in the box icon205 associated with a node that is at least partially collapsed (see,e.g., node 254). This will occur when at least the children nodes of thenode at issue are displayed. By selecting one of the box icons 205 withthe “−” sign a user may initiate the collapse function for the node thatthe box icon is associated with such that all the descendant nodes (notjust the children nodes) of the node at issue are hidden from view.After the node has been collapsed the “−” is replaced by a “+” in thebox icon 205. When this occurs, the node at issue may be referred to asbeing in a “fully collapsed” state. Functionality may also be providedthat allows the user to “fully expand” a node (i.e., display all thedescendant nodes of the node) in a single step, such as by, for example,using the mouse to move the arrow on the electronic display screen overthe box icon 205 for the node and then double clicking the left buttonon the mouse.

Embodiments of the present invention provide methods, systems andcomputer program products for displaying both hierarchical andnon-hierarchical data in a tree diagram graphical user display. Incertain embodiments of the present invention, this may be accomplishedby including additional “auxiliary” levels in between the levels of aconventional tree diagram that display non-hierarchical data associatedwith the hierarchical data resident at particular nodes in the treediagram.

FIG. 5A depicts an exemplary tree diagram graphical user interfaceaccording to embodiments of the present invention. The tree diagram ofFIG. 5A is identical to the tree diagram of FIG. 4 except that (a) itincludes the additional “auxiliary” level labeled 270 that includesnon-hierarchical data and (b) two of the box icons 205 have an alteredappearance. In the example depicted in FIG. 5A, the non-hierarchicaldata included at level 270 comprises a duplicate (“Intel 1”) of thehierarchical data item “Intel” contained in node 242. To display thisnon-hierarchical data in the tree diagram, the additional level 270 isprovided that includes a node 271 that repeats the hierarchical data(i.e., “Intel”) contained in node 242 and a second node 272 thatincludes the non-hierarchical, duplicate entry (i.e., “Intel 1”).

As shown in FIG. 5A, the auxiliary level 270 falls between levels 230and 240, each of which contain nodes that display part of the set ofhierarchical data. It will be appreciated that the auxiliary level 270could alternatively be located at other locations on the electronicdisplay, such as, for example, between levels 240 and 250. In theexemplary embodiments of the present invention depicted in FIG. 5A, thenodes resident at level 270 (nodes 271 and 272) are located to alignvertically with a horizontal connector 245 that connects node 242 to thebox icon 270 associated with node 242, whereas with levels 220, 230,240, 250 and 260 the nodes are located to align vertically with the boxicon 270 associated with the nodes on the next highest level. In thismanner, a user viewing the tree diagram 200 can easily determine whichdata comprises hierarchical data and which data comprisesnon-hierarchical data.

In some embodiments of the present invention, a user may be provided thecapability to hide or display selected of the non-hierarchical data.Herein, the operation of displaying the non-hierarchical data associatedwith a particular node in the tree diagram is referred to as “expandingthe node,” while the operation of hiding the non-hierarchical dataassociated with a particular node in the tree diagram is referred to as“collapsing the node” to distinguish these operations from theconventional operations of expanding or collapsing the tree diagram at anode to display or hide nodes at higher levels of the tree. In certainembodiments of the present invention, the expansion handles 205 may beused to expand or collapse the node. For instance, the tree diagramgraphical user interface could be configured such that when a userpointed to the expansion handle associated with node X with a mousearrow and double-clicked the left mouse button, the nodes located in theauxiliary level associated with node X would toggle between being hiddenor displayed. In alternative embodiments of the present invention, anode containing non-hierarchical data could be expanded or collapsed bypointing to the node with a mouse arrow and clicking the right mousebutton. Numerous other implementations are possible.

As shown in FIG. 5A, in embodiments of the present invention in which anexpansion handle that is used to expand or collapse levels of the treediagram that include hierarchical data is also used to display/hidenon-hierarchical data, the expansion handle may be given a modifiedappearance on the electronic display to alert the user of this expandedfunctionality. For example, the icon or other indicia used to denote theexpansion handle may have a different shape, color, pattern, etc. thanother expansion handles in the tree diagram that do not have thisadditional functionality (i.e., the expansion handles at nodes that donot have any associated non-hierarchical data). This modified appearanceis denoted in FIG. 5A by the cross-hatching of the box icons 205associated with nodes 231 and 242 (the nodes that have associatednon-hierarchical data). It will also be understood that the color, shapeor other characteristics of the data contained in a node could bemodified to visually indicate that a node in the tree diagram hasassociated non-hierarchical data.

As is also shown in FIG. 5A, in certain embodiments of the presentinvention, the modified appearance may include placing multiple “+”and/or “−” symbols within the box icon 205, the first of which visuallydescribes the collapsed/expanded state of the tree diagram 200 at thenode at issue and the second of which visually describes thecollapsed/expanded state of the node itself (i.e., whether or not thenon-hierarchical data is displayed or hidden). Thus, for example, inFIG. 5A the expansion handle associated with node 242 has a “−/−”symbol, where the first “−” symbol indicates that the tree diagram is inan expanded state at node 242 (i.e., the children nodes 251-255 aredisplayed), and the second “−” symbol indicates that node 242 itself isexpanded to display the non-hierarchical data (node 272) associated withnode 242. Similarly, the expansion handle associated with node 231 has a“+/+” symbol, where the first “+” symbol indicates that the tree diagramis in a collapsed state at node 231 (i.e., the children of node 231 arenot displayed), and the second “+” symbol indicates that node 231 itselfis in a collapsed state (i.e., there is non-hierarchical data associatedwith node 231 that is hidden on the display). Although not pictured inFIG. 5A, expansion handles could similarly include a “+/−” symbol fornodes where the tree diagram is collapsed at the node, but the nodeitself is expanded or a “−/+” symbol for nodes where the tree diagram isexpanded at the node, but the node itself is collapsed.

In other embodiments of the present invention, secondary expansionhandles may be provided that may be used to expand/collapse nodes thatcontain non-hierarchical data. FIG. 5B depicts a simple example of suchan embodiment of the present invention. As shown, in FIG. 5B, asecondary expansion handle 208 is provided at each node in the treediagram 200 that contains non-hierarchical data (i.e., nodes 231 and242). These secondary expansion handles 208 may conveniently be providedto the right of the expansion handles 205, although the presentinvention is not limited to any particular location. Each secondaryexpansion handle 208 is associated with a particular node in the treediagram and may be designed to allow a user to toggle between displayingand hiding the non-hierarchical data associated with the particularnode. The secondary expansion handles 208 may have the same or adifferent appearance as compared to the expansion handles 205.

As discussed above, in the tree diagram graphical user interfaces ofFIGS. 5A and 5B, expanding a node that contains non-hierarchical datasuch as, for example, node 242 results in the display of a new level(level 270) that contains a node (node 271) depicting the hierarchicaldata that is contained at the node that was expanded (node 242) and oneor more additional nodes (node 272) that contain the non-hierarchicaldata. It will be appreciated that it is not necessary that the auxiliarylevel 270 contain a node (node 271) that displays the hierarchical data.The tree diagram user interfaces of the present invention may beprogrammed or otherwise constructed to display this information, to notdisplay this information, or to allow the user to selectively orglobally choose between the two options.

As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the non-hierarchical data associated with aparticular node (e.g., the data contained in node 272) may itself haveembedded in it hierarchical data. For instance, in the example depictedin FIGS. 5A and 5B, the non-hierarchical data associated with node 242is a duplicate of node 242. This duplicate entry is displayed at node272. As node 242 has a plurality of descendant nodes (nodes 251-255 and261-262), node 272 likewise has the same descendant nodes. Accordingly,node 272 (and node 271) has its own expansion handle 205 which allows auser to expand/contract node 272 to hide or display these descendantnodes. It will also be appreciated that, in other instances, thenon-hierarchical data may include descendant nodes that containdifferent data. For instance, if node 272 contained a different versionof node 242 as opposed to containing a duplicate of node 242, then thedata contained in the descendant nodes to node 272 might differ from thedata contained in nodes 251-255 and 261-262.

An exemplary application in which tree diagram user interfaces accordingto embodiments of the present invention may be used is in applicationand/or resource monitoring systems that automatically orsemi-automatically monitor resources in, for example, computer networks.Various resource monitoring systems include the capability toautomatically search the network or networks that are to be monitored tocreate a map of the resources contained within the network. In manyinstances, this map comprises a collection of hierarchical data thatdepicts the different networks, involved, the servers and other hardwarein each network, individual components on the identified hardware (e.g.,disk drives, memory devices, processors, etc.), individual portsassociated with the hardware and/or components, application software anddata packages resident on the hardware and components, etc. Inperforming this mapping, the resource monitoring system may identifynumerous duplicate entries such as hardware or components that havedifferent names or network addresses that the resource monitoring systemis able to identify as corresponding to a single physical piece ofequipment. the mapping may also identify clones, such as duplicateapplications that were modified for some reason. The mapping may furtheridentify multiple versions of various network components such as, forexample, multiple versions of a software application that are residenton a network server. There may also be different versions for varioustopologies within the mapping. These identified duplicates, clones andversions generally are difficult to display in a conventional treediagram because without providing misleading information regarding thehierarchical relationship between the duplicates, clones and versionsand other data in the tree diagram.

In addition to providing an enhanced visual depiction, the tree diagramsaccording to embodiments of the present invention may also provide forquicker searching and quicker pruning of the tree diagram, and may alsoprovide a more natural way to provide multi-versioning in a data model.For example, a variety of algorithms exist that may be used forsearching hierarchical data contained within conventional tree diagrams.These algorithms are not configured to operate on auxiliary levels/nodesembedded in the tree diagram that include non-hierarchical data. Thus,when tree diagrams according to embodiments of the present invention areinput to these algorithms, only the hierarchical data will be searched.In certain instances, a user may only be interested in searching thehierarchical data. As such, embedding the non-hierarchical data inauxiliary nodes/levels of the tree diagram according to embodiments ofthe present invention can actually result in a simpler, faster search,as the search algorithm will ignore the non-hierarchical data stored inthe auxiliary nodes. Likewise, algorithms also exist that automaticallydelete and/or modify data stored at nodes in tree diagrams. Inconjunction with the tree diagram graphical user interfaces of thepresent invention, these algorithms could be modified to save priorversions of the tree diagram instead of deleting and/or writing over thedata in the previous version. The string of different versions of thetree diagram may be stored within the tree diagram itself asnon-hierarchical data entries in the tree diagram.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are flowchart illustrations that depict operations fordisplaying both hierarchical data and non-hierarchical data in a treediagram graphical user interface pursuant to embodiments of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 6, in one such embodiment at least part of aset of hierarchical data is displayed on the electronic display in atree diagram that has a plurality of levels with one or more nodespresent at each level (box 300). A set of non-hierarchical data is alsodisplayed on the electronic display in a plurality of auxiliary nodesthat are provided between at least some of the plurality of levels ofthe tree diagram (box 302). An expansion handle may also be displayedadjacent one or more nodes in the tree diagram, where the expansionhandle is configured to expand or collapse the tree diagram at the nodethe expansion handle is adjacent to (box 304). A secondary expansionhandle may optionally be displayed adjacent one or more nodes in thetree diagram, wherein the secondary expansion handle is configured toshow or hide selected of the auxiliary nodes (box 306).

As shown in FIG. 7, pursuant to other embodiments of the presentinvention, a set of hierarchical data and a set of non-hierarchical datamay be displayed in a composite diagram by displaying a first part ofthe set of hierarchical data in a first group of nodes that are arrangedin a plurality of levels to form a tree diagram (box 310). The treediagram may be expanded at one of the first group of nodes to display asecond part of the set of hierarchical data in a second group of nodesthat descend from the node where the expansion occurred (box 312). Thenode where the expansion was performed may itself be expanded to displaya group of auxiliary nodes that contain a portion of the set ofnon-hierarchical data (box 314). This may be accomplished by, forexample, toggling an expansion handle that is adjacent to the node or bytoggling a secondary expansion handle.

In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed typicalillustrative embodiments of the invention and, although specific termsare employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only andnot for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being setforth in the following claims.

1. A method for displaying a set of hierarchical data and a set ofnon-hierarchical data on an electronic display, the method comprising:displaying at least part of the set of hierarchical data on theelectronic display in a tree diagram that has a plurality of levels withone or more nodes present at each level; displaying the set ofnon-hierarchical data on the electronic display in a plurality ofauxiliary nodes that are provided between at least some of the pluralityof levels of the tree diagram; and displaying an expansion handleadjacent a first of the nodes in the tree diagram, wherein the expansionhandle is configured to expand or collapse the tree diagram at the firstof the nodes and is further configured to independently show or hideselected of the auxiliary nodes without modifying the display of thehierarchical data.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the expansionhandle includes first and second regions, and wherein pointing to thefirst region of the expansion handle with a pointing device whilesimultaneously double-clicking a control button on the pointing deviceacts to expand or collapse the tree diagram at the first of the nodes,and wherein pointing to the second region of the expansion handle withthe pointing device while simultaneously double-clicking the controlbutton on the pointing device acts to show or hide selected of theauxiliary nodes.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein pointing to theexpansion handle with a pointing device while pressing a first button onthe pointing device operates to expand or collapse the tree diagram atthe first of the nodes; and pointing to the expansion handle with thepointing device while pressing a second button on the pointing deviceoperates to show or hide selected of the auxiliary nodes.
 4. A methodfor displaying a set of hierarchical data and a set of non-hierarchicaldata on an electronic display, the method comprising: displaying atleast part of the set of hierarchical data on the electronic display ina tree diagram that has a plurality of levels with one or more nodespresent at each level; displaying the set of non-hierarchical data onthe electronic display in a plurality of auxiliary nodes that areprovided between at least some of the plurality of levels of the treediagram; displaying an expansion handle adjacent a first of the nodes inthe tree diagram, wherein the expansion handle is configured to expandor collapse the tree diagram at the first of the nodes; and displaying asecondary expansion handle adjacent at least one of the nodes in thetree diagram, wherein the secondary expansion handle is configured toshow or hide selected of the auxiliary nodes.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the expansion handle comprises a first type of icon and thesecondary expansion handle comprises a second type of icon that isdifferent than the first type of icon.
 6. A method for displaying a setof hierarchical data and a set of non-hierarchical data in a compositediagram on an electronic display, comprising: displaying on theelectronic display a first part of the set of hierarchical data in afirst plurality of nodes that are arranged in a plurality of levels toform a tree diagram; expanding the tree diagram at one of the firstplurality of nodes to display on the electronic display a second part ofthe set of hierarchical data in a second plurality of nodes that descendfrom the one of the first plurality of nodes; and independentlyexpanding the one of the first plurality of nodes to display on theelectronic display a plurality of auxiliary nodes that contain a portionof the set of non-hierarchical data.
 7. The method of claim 6, furthercomprising toggling an expansion handle adjacent the one of the firstplurality of nodes to initiate the expansion of the tree diagram todisplay the second plurality of nodes.
 8. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising using the expansion handle adjacent the one of the firstplurality of nodes to initiate the display of the auxiliary nodes. 9.The method of claim 7, further comprising toggling a second expansionhandle located adjacent the expansion handle to initiate the display ofthe auxiliary nodes.